Are Shrooms Illegal in Colorado? Penalties and Healing Centers

Psilocybin mushrooms are not fully legal in Colorado, but they are decriminalized for personal use if you are 21 or older. Since voters passed Proposition 122 in November 2022, adults can possess, use, grow, and share shrooms without facing state criminal charges. Selling them, giving them to anyone under 21, using them in public, or driving after taking them can still land you in serious trouble, and federal law has not changed at all.

What Adults 21 and Older Can Do

If you’re at least 21, Colorado law lets you possess and use psilocybin mushrooms for personal purposes without state criminal penalties. The statute doesn’t set a specific gram limit for personal possession, though holding unusually large quantities can lead law enforcement to suspect you intend to sell.

You can also grow mushrooms at home. The total cultivation area on your property cannot exceed 12 feet by 12 feet, the space has to be on private property, and it must be secured so that no one under 21 can get to it.¹

Sharing with another adult is allowed, but only if no money or other compensation changes hands. The law defines personal use broadly enough to include sharing in the context of counseling, spiritual guidance, or community-based healing, provided it’s genuinely free.¹

What Can Still Get You Charged

Decriminalization has clear boundaries. Step outside them and the criminal exposure is real, up to and including prison.

Selling for Profit

Selling psilocybin is the most serious offense. Because psilocybin is still on Colorado’s controlled substance schedule, unauthorized sales are prosecuted under the state’s general drug distribution statute, and the felony level turns on weight:²

Up to 14 grams: Level 3 drug felony, 2 to 4 years in prison and fines of $2,000 to $500,000.
More than 14 grams but no more than 225 grams: Level 2 drug felony, 4 to 8 years in prison and fines of $3,000 to $750,000.
More than 225 grams: Level 1 drug felony, 8 to 32 years in prison and fines of $5,000 to $1 million.

Each level carries mandatory parole after release: one year for Level 3, two for Level 2, and three for Level 1.³

Giving Shrooms to Anyone Under 21

Giving, selling, or distributing psilocybin to a person under 21 is explicitly outside the decriminalization protections. A person who does it can be arrested and prosecuted under the same distribution laws that apply to any illegal drug sale.¹ A person under 21 caught with mushrooms faces a drug petty offense punishable by up to four hours of drug education or counseling rather than jail.

Public Use

Using psilocybin openly in a public place is a drug petty offense, with a fine of up to $100 and up to 24 hours of community service.¹

Growing Over the Limit

Cultivating beyond the 12-by-12-foot area is a drug petty offense with a fine of up to $1,000. If the scale suggests you’re growing for commercial distribution, prosecutors can pursue felony charges under the distribution statute instead.¹

Manufacturing With Hazardous Substances

Making psilocybin products using inherently hazardous substances without a state license is a Level 2 drug felony, carrying the same 4-to-8-year prison range and fines up to $750,000 that apply to large-scale distribution.⁴

Driving After Using Shrooms

Decriminalization doesn’t give you a pass behind the wheel. Colorado’s DUI statute covers impairment from any drug, and if psilocybin affects your ability to drive safely you can be charged with driving under the influence or driving while ability impaired.⁵ There’s no breathalyzer for psilocybin, so officers rely on field sobriety tests and drug-recognition training.

A first DUI can mean 5 days to a year in jail, fines of $600 to $1,000, 48 to 96 hours of community service, and a nine-month license suspension. A fourth DUI is a Class 4 felony with potential prison time of 2 to 6 years. A psilocybin experience can last several hours and significantly impair coordination and perception, so waiting it out is the only safe call.

Federal Law Hasn’t Changed

Psilocybin remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act.⁶ Colorado’s decriminalization changes nothing at the federal level, and Proposition 122’s own text says the law neither requires anyone to violate federal law nor shields anyone from federal enforcement.⁷

Three situations to watch. Possessing shrooms on federal land, including national parks, national forests, and military bases, is still a federal crime, and Colorado has a lot of federal land. Federal employers and agencies that conduct drug testing aren’t bound by state decriminalization, so a positive test can still cost you a security clearance or a federal job. And carrying psilocybin across state lines is a federal offense even if both states have decriminalized it.

The Legal Route: Licensed Healing Centers

Proposition 122 also created a Regulated Natural Medicine Access Program, and the first licensed healing centers opened in Colorado in 2025 under the state’s Department of Natural Medicine.⁸ At a licensed center, a trained facilitator screens you for medical and psychiatric risk factors, prepares you, stays with you for the session (typically five to eight hours), and follows up with integration sessions. Until at least June 1, 2026, only psilocybin and psilocyn are permitted in this supervised setting; the Natural Medicine Advisory Board can later decide whether to add DMT, ibogaine, or mescaline.⁴

1
Justia. Colorado Code 18-18-434 – Offenses Relating to Natural Medicine and Natural Medicine Product – Definitions
2
Justia. Colorado Code 18-18-405 – Unlawful Distribution, Manufacturing, Dispensing, or Sale
3
Justia. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401.5 – Drug Felonies Classified – Presumptive and Aggravated Penalties
4
Colorado General Assembly. SB23-290 – Natural Medicine Regulation And Legalization
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Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-1301 – Driving Under the Influence – Driving While Impaired – Definitions – Penalties
6
Drug Enforcement Administration. Psilocybin
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Colorado General Assembly. Proposition 122 – Access to Natural Psychedelic Substances
8
Department of Natural Medicine. Healing Centers